


You Put Your Arms Around Me And I'm Home

by FairyQueen (etoilecourageuse)



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst and Feels, F/F, Feels, Hecate Hardbroom Has Emotions, Hicsqueak, Hurt/Comfort, Late Night Conversations, Worry, Yuletide 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:36:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21841330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etoilecourageuse/pseuds/FairyQueen
Summary: Hecate worries too much.
Relationships: Hardbroom/Pentangle (Worst Witch), Hecate Hardbroom/Pippa Pentangle
Comments: 8
Kudos: 59
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	You Put Your Arms Around Me And I'm Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hihoplastic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hihoplastic/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide, dear hihoplastic! I really hope that you enjoy this - it was my first time writing Worst Witch and Hecate, and I seriously hope that I did her and Pippa justice.

"You worry too much, Hecate,“ Pippa murmured, holing her close within her arms and absent-mindedly drawing circles onto her chest; a habit, she had never quite overcome. 

Hecate, carefully weighing her options of an appropriate response her that would not provoke yet another fight between the two of them, merely sighed. In all honesty… What was there _not_ to worry about in times like these? The academy was a ruin, a shadow of its former self (and it was only due to Pippa that it had not yet entirely burst into flame), chaos reigning wherever she looked and its future uncertain, which, in her eyes, was a rather appropriate reason to be concerned. To be fair, she could not _all_ blame it on Mildred Hubble, yet was only all too certain that the girl’s arrival at the school had, in a way, settled its tragic fate, even if she had not quite figured out how exactly. 

"I’ve never been been the type to simply… trust in everything to turn out all right in the end if only I believed hard enough,“ she heard herself say, brushing back a strand of her long, black hair that had strangely intertwined with one of Pippa’s blonde locks. "Belief and trust have never given me anything, have they?“

In the moment her lips uttered these words, Hecate realised that they might have been a mistake; oh, she should have kept her mouth shut, she knew it… Indeed, Pippa’s muscles began to tighten, as though she were fighting the urge to turn away from her - or, worse, to get up and silently leave the room. 

"They’ve… Given you me…“ she whispered, audibly wounded by what Hecate had so foolishly uttered, and yet meant entirely differently. 

It was difficult for her to talk about it, even difficult to admit to herself that, perhaps, indeed she worried too much, that indeed she struggled to trust, and yet… Yet had she never trusted a person more in her life than Pippa Pentangle. Yes, they both were stubborn, stubborn enough to dwell on a silly argument that neither of them truly remembered but had nearly torn them apart, stubborn enough to barely look each other in the eye for longer than they cared to confess, but at the end of the day… At the end of the day they loved each other. They had always loved each other, from the first moment on, as friends at first, and later as so much more… 

"You know I didn’t mean it like this,“ she said quietly, gently squeezing her hand. "Pippa, please…Allow me to get used to the situation. It’s only been a couple of weeks, and… Change is never easy.“

Shouldn’t she be happy? Shouldn’t Hecate be happy, to finally have her by her side, happy to know that the academy was in hands loyal and capable alike? Pippa’s modern methods had overwhelmed not only the girls at first, but she had soon found good measure, allowing tradition and progress to live peacefully side by side, had given everyone such sense of security in times like these… Shouldn’t she be grateful, to no longer be forced to talk to her through the mirror, but to have her so close to her, in flesh and blood? It seemed so beautiful… It all seemed so beautiful… Too beautiful to be true… 

Sooner or later, however, Pippa would return to her own school. Pentangle’s could not be without Pentangle forever, they both knew, and even the mere thought seemed to turn Hecate into stone. 

It wasn’t that Pippa had not offered her a teaching spot at Pentangle’s, she still did now, from time to time, but… She couldn’t leave. Hecate could not leave the academy they both had attended themselves as young girls, she had not the heart to leave the first and only place behind that she had been truly able to call her home, and deep inside Pippa was fully aware of this. She respected her wish, despite her occasional attempts to convince her otherwise.

But oh… Oh, what would Hecate give to have her by her side constantly… It was selfish, she knew, but wasn’t she, who had only lived for the school, who had never thought of anyone but others, allowed to be selfish, too, at least once in her life? What harm would it do, to wish for one single thing for herself, for once in her life? Hadn’t she always been humble and obedient, fiercely loyal to her superiors? Hadn’t she, too, the right to strive for her own happiness? 

"I’m… scared, Pippa,“ she whispered, could not handle the silence, barely capable of believing her own words. Had she truly…? Never before had Hecate Hardbroom admitted to anyone that she was afraid, and now? Now the words that she had always buried so deeply within her soul had slipped her mouth… "And I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared in my entire life. Everything’s different now, and it feels like it won’t ever stop changing… I cannot lose you again… But before I know it you’ll be back at Pentangle’s, and I’ll be here trying to prevent an entire academy from burning down, and I have no idea how I’ll ever be able to handle any of this mess without you. I know it’s your school. I know they need you there, but… I need you too. I need you too, and if you believe that this is wrong and selfish, do so however you please. But I cannot lose you again. I cannot, or I’ll suffocate…“

Silence followed. Hecate could feel Pippa’s fingers move gently upon her chest once more, forming circles and other strange shapes she could not recognise, as if it were to hypnotise her, to soothe her into sleep… 

"You worry too much, love,“ Pippa merely said at last, and it felt like the beginning of their conversation all over again. If only there weren’t something within her voice… Something so very, very different than before. Something Hecate could not quite grasp at first. 

Again, silence. Nothing but the sound of their breathing, and the quiet, occasional flutter of a bat’s pair of wings as they flew out on their nightly stroll through the grounds, nothing but Pippa drawing circles onto her skin. 

"It’s… nice when you hold me like this, you know…“ Hecate murmured into the darkness after a while, nearly believing that Pippa had fallen asleep, placing her head a little more comfortably upon her shoulder. 

"I’ll do that every night from on then, I suppose…“ responded Pippa nearly silently, her lips curling into an ever so slight smile.


End file.
